Nonprofit Ratings & Recognitions
When people ask, "Is Save the Children a good charity," we let our results, our financial statements, our nonprofit ratings—and our commitment to the people who power our mission—speak for themselves.
Because of our long-standing commitment to children, Save the Children consistently ranks highly among nonprofit organizations. Independent Charity watchers, consumer advocates and respected publishers agree that Save the Children is a charity donors can trust.
In Indonesia, Atika, 12, sits at a desk next to a classmate at her school.
Save the Children at a Glance
Charity Navigator: ★★★★ (4-Star)
CharityWatch: A-
BBB Wise Giving Alliance: Accredited Charity
Children Reached (2024): 113.6 million
Individual Supporters: 1.5 million
How Save the Children Compares to Other Top-Rated Charities
When compared with other top-rated charities, Save the Children consistently meets or exceeds widely used benchmarks for trust, transparency and financial efficiency. Independent watchdog organizations evaluate our governance, accountability and program impact annually, placing us among a small group of nonprofits recognized for strong performance across multiple rating systems.
In 2024, 1.5 million individual supporters played a vital role in advancing our mission for children through financial support and advocacy—reinforcing the confidence donors place in our long-standing global presence, high level of program spending and commitment to public transparency.
Below are just a few of the ratings we’ve received as well as frequently asked questions.
Independent Charity Ratings & Watchdog Reviews
Save the Children is evaluated annually by multiple independent charity watchdog organizations using publicly available financial and governance data.
Most Recent Rating: 2025 Top-Rated
The Great Nonprofits Top-Rated Awards is the one and only people’s choice award where volunteers, donors, and people served by nonprofits are asked to share stories of inspiration and express their appreciation. Based on a series of positive reviews, Save the Children received a top-rated award for 2025.
Most Recent Rating: A-
CharityWatch is a nonprofit charity watchdog and information service that provides ratings for approximately 500 major U.S. charities. Ratings are updated annually using data from the IRS Form 990 and audited financial statements.
Charity reviewer Charity Navigator logo showing Save the Children’s 4-star rating.
Most Recent Rating: Four Stars
Founded in 2001, Charity Navigator has become the nation's largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities. Ratings are updated annually based on two broad areas of a charity's performance: Financial Health and Accountability & Transparency. Charity Navigator applies an overall rating (zero-to-four stars).
Most Recent Rating: Accredited Charity
The Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance reviews charities governance and oversight, effectiveness, finances and fundraising and informational materials to determine whether a charity meets its standards of becoming an accredited charity. Save the Children meets the 20 standards needed to be rated as an accredited national charity.
Forbes’ 2025 list of America’s Top 100 Charities is based on the most recently reported fiscal year and the rankings reflect private contributions only.
Most Recent Rating: Platinum
Candid formerly known as GuideStar provides as much information as they can about each nonprofit's mission, legitimacy, impact, reputation, finances, programs, transparency, governance, and so much more.
Most Popular Charities in 2022
Save the Children ranked 12th on the list of Fidelity Charitable Most Popular Charities in 2022. Fidelity Charitable’s most popular nonprofit list is ranked based on the number of donor-advised funds supporting an individual charity. The 2022 list includes the 20 most popular charities by Giving Account support.
Most Recent Rating: 4.5 Stars
As the world's largest social network, Facebook members have the ability to write reviews about organizations like Save the Children. We currently have a rating of 4.5 out of 5 on Facebook.
Impact, Innovation & Sector Leadership
In addition to charity ratings, Save the Children is recognized for leadership, innovation and impact across the nonprofit sector.
2025 Blackbaud Impact Changemaker Award
Save the Children received the Changemaker Award for embracing bold innovation in donor engagement and technology transformation to drive greater impact for children worldwide.
Green Climate Fund Accredited
Save the Children is a Green Climate Fund accredited entity, aiming to help scale up locally-led approaches to adaptation. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is the world's largest climate fund ($10 billion pledged).
The 10 Most Innovative Non-Profits of 2023
This year’s honorees in the not-for-profit category show that nonprofits can be as innovative and expansive as any company—whether they’ve branched out from an established business or started out as their own entity.
Passing “TrustedSite” Security Scan
TrustedSite is dedicated to building and protecting trust for websites. To help address concerns about possible hacker access to confidential data and the safety of visiting or shopping at certain sites, the TrustedSite trustmark appears only when a site passes the daily scans.
Workplace Culture & Leadership Recognition
Strong governance and impact are supported by experienced leadership and a mission-driven workplace culture.
America’s Greatest Workplaces 2025
Save the Children was named one of Newsweek’s America’s Greatest Workplaces, recognizing organizations that foster employee engagement, trust, and a mission-driven culture. The rankings are based on independent employee surveys, workplace performance indicators, and organizational reputation.
Save the Children President and CEO Janti Soeripto has been recognized by Forbes’ 50 Over 50, a list celebrating leaders driving meaningful impact, innovation, and change across industries and communities. This recognition reflects the experience, vision, and long-term commitment behind Save the Children’s global mission.
Is Save the Children a good charity?
Save the Children is the world’s leading expert on childhood. Since our founding 100 years ago, we have changed the lives of over 1 billion children. In 2024, Save the Children programs and partners helped 114 million children in 113 countries become healthier, safer and better educated.
These results are reflective of our proven efficiency, effectiveness and accountability. Our independently audited financial statements consistently show that out of every dollar spent, 84 cents goes directly to programs and services for children and families in need. By keeping administrative costs low, more funding goes to children’s programs.
How is Save the Children rated by charity watchdogs?
Charity watch groups name us as a top-rated children’s charity among other children’s charities and non-profit organizations. Included among these charity rankings are a four-star rating from Charity Navigator and an A- rating from CharityWatch.
What percentage of expenditures go to program services?
You can be assured that Save the Children uses the valuable resources donors have provided in the most cost-effective ways possible.
In fiscal year 2024, 84% of all expenditures went straight to our mission. This means that, out of every dollar spent, 84 cents goes to programs and services for children and families in need. Learn more here.
Who helps make Save the Children an effective charity?
We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.
Our experienced and highly skilled staff and teams around the world work tirelessly to build a better future for and with children by responding to emergencies and conflict, delivering innovative development programs, and ensuring children’s voices are heard through our campaign and advocacy work. This wouldn’t be possible without our supporters who donate to kids in need.